Advertisement

Fox News overlooks alleged Nazi ties, hires former White House staffer Seb Gorka

Because of course they did!

Former deputy assistant to President Trump, Sebastian Gorka. CREDIT: AP Photo/Susan Walsh
Former deputy assistant to President Trump, Sebastian Gorka. CREDIT: AP Photo/Susan Walsh

In a predictable twist, Sebastian Gorka, a former deputy assistant to President Donald Trump and reportedly a sworn member of a Nazi-allied party in Hungary, is joining Fox News. Fox News host Sean Hannity announced the hire on his radio show Wednesday afternoon.

“Joining us now is Dr. Sebastian Gorka,” Hannity told listeners. “I can officially announce today he is a Fox News national security strategist.”

Gorka thanked Hannity, calling him a “great supporter.”

“You’ve been a great supporter, not only of myself, but of the administration and the president, and it’s great to be back as part of the superb Fox family,” Gorka said.

Advertisement

A Fox News spokesperson confirmed the hire to Talking Points Memo after Hannity announced it on his show. ThinkProgress reached out to Gorka, but Gorka did not respond to requests for comment.

Gorka claims to be a national security expert, but his credentials are questionable.

“Several experts interviewed by Politico puzzled over the gap between the numerous military academic credentials listed by Gorka — a political science Ph.D. who unfailingly uses the title ‘Dr.’ — and their unfamiliarity with his work and views,” Politico reported in February.

Despite that, Fox has hired him as a “national security strategist.”

Gorka’s hiring is also questionable considering the fact that he is reportedly a sworn member of a Nazi-allied party in Hungary. In March, The Forward uncovered Gorka’s ties to a group known as Vitézi Rend, which according to the State Department, was “under the direction of the Nazi Government of Germany” during World War II.

Advertisement

“I have never taken an oath of loyalty to the Vitézi Rend,” Gorka told Tablet Magazine after The Forward story was published. “Since childhood, I have occasionally worn my father’s medal and used the ‘v.’ initial to honor his struggle against totalitarianism.”

He remained in the White House for months after his ties were revealed.

Gorka left the White House in August, not long after his closest ally, former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon. Gorka has repeatedly said he resigned, but a White House official told a pool reporter that Gorka “did not resign” but “no longer works at the White House.”

During his time working for Trump, Gorka defended the White House’s silence on a bombing at a mosque because, according to Gorka, it might have been faked by liberals. Gorka also drew criticism for saying people should stop criticizing white supremacists so much.

When Gorka left the White House, he complained the administration wasn’t Islamophobic enough.

That type of rhetoric seems to fit right in at Fox.

In September, the channel hired Laura Ingraham, who has landed such high-profile interviews as White House Chief of Staff John Kelley and Trump himself in her short time at the network. Ingraham, too, has a history of racist rhetoric, including suggesting that the United States should shoot undocumented immigrants and complaining that “the Muslims” never support “the conservatives” on anti-LGBT issues.